The Louvre Museum
Categories : Leisure, published on : 4/9/23
The Louvre, once a royal palace, bears witness to eight centuries of French history. From the time of its founding in 1793, the museum was intended to be universal. Its collections, among the finest in the world, span several thousand years and an area stretching from America to the confines of Asia.
The Louvre began as a fortress with thick defensive walls, built in 1190 during the reign of Philippe Auguste. It became a royal residence in 1364 and was modified over the centuries according to changing styles and royal preferences. The Grande Galerie was built between 1595 and 1610, during the reign of Henri IV.
In 1791, during the French Revolution, it was decreed that the Louvre should become a museum of the arts. The Muséum Central des Arts was inaugurated in 1793, and thereafter the palace was increasingly given over to the museum collections and their display to the public. From 1981 to 1989, the Pyramid project focused on putting visitors at the heart of the museum and its collections. The Department of Islamic Art was inaugurated in 2012. The opening of the new rooms of the Department of Byzantine and Eastern Christian Art is scheduled for 2027.
The Louvre is a universal museum with nine curatorial departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities; Paintings; Sculptures; Decorative Arts; Prints and Drawings; Islamic Art; and now Byzantine and Eastern Christian Art. Some 30,000 works of art are on display, out of nearly 500, 000 held by museum, including world-famous masterpieces such as the Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Seated Scribe, the Winged Bulls of Khorsabad, the Mona Lisa and Michelangelo’s Slaves, and parts of the palace, such as the Napoleon III Apartments, are works of art in their own right.
In front of the palace is the Tuileries Garden, created during the Renaissance by Catherine de’ Medici, and a few miles away, at the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, is another museum managed by the Louvre – the Musée Eugène-Delacroix, housed in the painter’s last apartment.
A must-see during your stay at the Hotel Le Jardin Le Bréa, the Louvre Museum is the most visited museum in the world, with approximately 9 million visitors per year.
How to get to the Louvre Museum from the Hôtel Jardin Le Bréa?
Place du Carrousel, 75001 Paris
- From the Hôtel Jardin Le Bréa, take metro line 4 from Vavin (1-minute walk), towards Porte de Clignancourt, get off at Châtelet station, then take metro line 1 towards La Défense, get off at Palais-Royal (Musée du Louvre) station, or take metro line 12 from Notre-Dame-des-Champs (5-minute walk), towards Mairie d'Aubervilliers, get off at Concorde station, then walk through the Tuileries Garden.
The total travel time from our hotel via either route is approximately 20 minutes.
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